Those "lunatics" Dana White refers to in a radio interview in Miami are Strikeforce, and it simply means no Fedor in UFC. At least while he's there. "[Co-promotion with them] will never happen in a million years. [Strikeforce is] a minor league. Listen I have come to the realization and everyone else needs to too that Fedor (Emelianenko) doesn’t want to fight the best guys in the world. Believe me when I tell you guys I have done everything in my power, I have flown to crazy parts of the world, done all this stuff, been on the phone for hours, not hung out with my kids on weekends because I’m on the phone with these lunatics and just can’t make the deal. They don’t want to do it so we gotta get over it.

Fine by me. I'm about as sick of hearing about Fedor not signing with the UFC as I am hearing "Where Will LeBron Go?, Where Will Shields Sign?, and Will Favre Retire?" If it happens, it happens. I'm glad Dana is saying screw it.

Fine by me. I'm about as sick of hearing about Fedor not signing with the UFC as I am hearing "Where Will LeBron Go?, Where Will Shields Sign?, and Will Favre Retire?" If it happens, it happens. I'm glad Dana is saying screw it.

me too. i believe dana saying he has done everything in his power, bar co-promotion (which imo can not be justified), to make this happen but it's time to call it a day and move on. all the same, until fedor loses or retires i don't think he will truly give up the chase.

Last edited 6/21/10 7:46PM server time by theruler_Edit note/reason: n/a

Mayweather and Fedor are two separate circumstances. To save people the trouble of pointing out that they are both fighters and both considered by some/many to be the best p4p in their respective fields, there's a large difference between the two.

Mayweather can be stripped of his titles if he fails to produce. The only title Fedor has/had is the WAMMA HW belt which is pretty much a joke. Secondly, boxing has ALWAYS commanded more money per fighter than MMA ever will (at least for the foreseeable future).

Additionally, boxing is viewed by a much larger audience than MMA, like it or not, and, therefore, these fighters can command that kind of money when it comes to PPV's and mega-fights. More often than not it's the promotions that are paying this kind of money to the fighters. When you have several different promotions splitting the cost of an event, it doesn't hurt any one promotion more than the next, usually.

Lastly, boxing needs Mayweather right now. MMA does not need Fedor. There's a handful of household names when it comes to boxing at the present moment. You have Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao. Those are boxing's present big names. MMA has Anderson, GSP, Rampage, Brock, BJ, Forrest, Tito, Chuck, Randy, etc..they can survive without Fedor.

In a world where Dana already has a business model that, whether you like it or not, is THRIVING, why would he overpay for a fighter like Fedor who's, really, not going to have a HUGE impact on the UFC at this stage in his career? I love Fedor just as much as the next person but I can't see how signing him would create THAT many more buys that it would warrant the contract Fedor and M-1 are asking for.

Now, Mayweather and Pacquiao? You're talking an ABSURD amount of buys. The PPV buys from that alone would probably double the last TWO UFC's combined. That's why Mayweather can command that kind of money.

Last edited 6/21/10 10:20PM server time by blueskiesburnEdit note/reason: n/a2 total post edits

Oh Dana....quite it....knock it off...you won't keep working to get Fedor just like: Tito will never return, neither will Randy.Your signing Shields.You will make people fight opponents regardless of who they train with.The list is too long...I'm sure to prop someone who does this correctly but I think this expresses my point/opinion on Dana's most recent statements here.

Oh Dana....quite it....knock it off...you won't keep working to get Fedor just like: Tito will never return, neither will Randy.Your signing Shields.You will make people fight opponents regardless of who they train with.The list is too long...I'm sure to prop someone who does this correctly but I think this expresses my point/opinion on Dana's most recent statements here.

Translation for Jae:

A list of things Dana has said that turned out to be complete bullshit:

1.) Tito will never fight in the UFC again2.) Tito and Chuck ARE fighting, it was never canceled.3.) Anderson is off the main card4.) People don't get to choose who they fight.

i dont blaim dana. im so tired of hearing about fedor, i keep saying this but i really do think that fedor is no longer the best. i think overeem, lesnar, carwin, valasquez, are all better than he is. fedor had serious trouble with rogers, and overeem made rogers look like an amateur. if there anybody that dana should be trying to get in the ufc at HW it should be overeem. i know hes champ but he's also said numerous times that he would love to fight in the ufc. forget about fedor, let him keep dodging fighters.